Czechia Eurovision 2023 - Music Teacher analyses My Sister's Crown by Vesna (Reaction)
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- čas přidán 9. 04. 2023
- The reactionalyses of Eurovision 2023 continue with Czechia. Mike discusses his thoughts on this year's entry and provides a musical analysis from a first time listening.
Original Video: • Vesna - My sister's cr...
#eurovision2023 #czechia #czechrepublic
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There are actually 3 different Slavic languages, each one for each different Slavic language family (western - Czech, eastern - Ukrainian, southern - Bulgarian) so it kinda symbolizes all the Slavic nations, with our similar languages, related culture, traditions, history... related just like the sisters in the video. Plus the members are from various Slavic nations - three are Czechs, one is Slovak, one is Bulgarian and one is Russian (+ they've also collaborated with one Ukrainian). And the song is about the support to our Slavic Ukrainian sister who is in need. I can't even say how happy I am for seeing my country sending this time something more traditional, ethnic, with (also) Czech language... something that I've been waiting for for years 🤩
And the menacing men in purple represent the successor to the Eastern Roman Empire, which has pale purple colors in its regalia. I believe that country might have a flag with three colors that could be mixed together to form light purple as well.
Dude, you gotta find symbolism in every detail. The purple guys represent Russia and their idea of being the rulers of all the Slavs. Purple is the color of power. When the guy feeds the Ukrainian woman red soup(RUSIAN BORŠČ), it's a metaphor for propaganda. At the same time, they're scary, which is why the girl gets scared in front of the mirror and prefers to comply by putting red lipstick all over her face. When they swirl their sticks around the singer, they choke her, they want to subdue her. Then in the chorus they sing about how each of our Slavic sisters, in this song Bulgarian, Czech, Ukrainian, are equal, their crown and sovereignty cannot be taken away. At the end we see that there is a reconciliation, the Russians hand over one stick and become equals. This is a reflection of Russian aggression in Ukraine, just as the occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968 once was. Anyway, I'm so glad you like our song!
Also light purple is the exact result of mixing the three colors of Russian flag.
The lady with the soup is the Russian civilians. He's feeding her "BLA" on a spoon. The red lady is Ukraine.
Like the TV is simbolism for propaganda and people beliveing it.
Actually, "Borshch " is the Ukrainian traditional soup. It's even in UNESCO's List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Ukraine. So, some of "Russian culture" isn't Russian. It's the heritage of other nations, that Russia occupied some times ago. So, even if it comes to food, the propaganda is involved.
@@Olasia-zu4fk its more like tomato ABC soup ("Rajská s písmenky"), super cheap soup every socialistic kid hated :D You would not put ABC pasta into the boršč I would say.
I'm Czech and I'd like to explain something. This song was created by a Czech team and therefore it is created from a Czech point of view. The colour purple symbolises imperialism and power - in this case the Putin regime.
The "crown" from the Czech perspective represents sovereignty, freedom and ownership of one's country. Thus, in the song, it represents Ukrainian sovereignty over its own territory. The lyrics of the song refer to the fact that this symbolic 'crown' was taken away from Ukraine by Russia. Sisterhood means that the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and other countries support Ukraine and are trying to draw attention to its struggle, because we all refuse to be servants of the Russian regime.
The woman in blue represents Russia (for us Czechs, she embodies the Russian Marfusha from Father Frost (Morozhko 1964) - the most popular Russian fairy tale broadcast every Christmas on Czech TV) and the guy in purple (aka the symbol of imperialism, aka Putin) feeds her Ukrainian borscht and she enjoys it. The symbolism here is that Putin is giving the Russians a piece of Ukraine, they like it and want more. It is a symbol of how the Russian regime has warped the minds of many Russians.
The two little girls playing with dolls represent us, the Western Slavs, their play probably symbolizes their peacefulness, but maybe in a way also their naivety, but even if they are not attacked by purple guys with guns, they are attacked by the TV, which represents propaganda (that's why they have screens on their heads)
The girl in red surrounded by the boys in purple represents Ukraine (behind her we can see the motifs of the Ukrainian colours), she is surrounded and attacked by them. You can see that at one point they form a star around her (probably a communist star), but she breaks away.
The girl who looks in the mirror and is made up is also a Ukrainian, I believe, who is trying to improve herself, but then she is surprised/attacked by the imperialist guy and she is forced to dye herself red (shedding Ukrainian blood) to get the guy to come back.
The characters had to be so subtle because of Eurovision's rules about political motives, but because of that there is a risk that they could be misunderstood, which seems to have happened here.
In their official YT channel the music video has English subtitles! That may help you understand the meaning. Also they sing in 4 languages: English, Czech, Ukrainian and Bulgarian.
I love the song. I don't see it as a realistic contender to win, but I'm so happy it's there. Anything can happen if the staging is amazing, but at this point I just hope it'll qualify, Semi 1 is so tough.
Hi, here's my rather detailed analysis about the content, not the musical structure. ;) The song has a multi-layered message and is much more than just a protest anti-war song. First of all, I find myself in it as a woman, then as a Slav, and then as a defender of peace. Mostly, the song is directed against patriarchy and male oppression towards women. This is very clearly illustrated by both the text and the video. The song very clearly addresses ALL women in the world. Clearly, it does support the Ukrainian struggle, but it also supports female empowerment. For starters, the band is named Vesna, the Slavic pagan goddess of fertility, beauty and spring.
The video without the lyrics is already a story per se. The men in the video are very uniformed in their clothes and actions likewise, to show they are pretty much after the same thing: domination and power. First, they snap their teeth as if to bite, then they use their sticks to corner a woman and suffocate her, till she breaks free. The computer screens on their heads suggest men being both creators and victims of the social media, while the women merely try to get the message. Then there's the part where a man is trying to force-feed the Russian girl with borsch (blood-colored soup), but she opens the mouth and swallows just to show him that she is capable of absorbing much more than he thinks.
On the other hand, the girls are dressed very differently from one another, to show each one of them is unique. And yet, they allow each other to be who they are, and still reach harmony in their message. I was mostly striked by the expression of curly -haired raper with a ring in her nose (the Bulgarian Tanita Yankova). She throws red dices to show she is willing to take her chances, and is clearly the Amazon of the entire group. She has that stern glare on her face that says "I dare you to fight me". The fun part is where another girl applies her lipstick, till a man screams to her from the mirror to intimidate her: "I will be the one who will tell you how you need to look!" After that, she purposely applies her lipstick abundantly and over the edge, thus forcing him to disappear into the mirror again. The best part is towards the end where the girls hold their ground by sitting against the wall and singing the chorus, forcing the men in purple suits ( color of imperialist and opressors) to row their sticks backwards. At the very end of the video, men are standing frozen still.
Now to the lyrics. The woman is the one who brings life, not destruction.
"My sister won't stand in the corner
Nor will she listen to you
My sister, wild at heart
Will never let you tie her down": this is just about any woman, not just about Ukraine. After all, we all remember Manizha's song Russian woman from 2021. She shares the same message. This is not just a rebellion against Putin, but against all Putins throughout history, who also made sure to keep women aside, as it is clearly represented by the male dancers in the video.
You asked what's with the Jesus' thing. This is answered with the lyrics:
"Life's not a moneybag, blood's on your God's head, you can't steal our souls": after the collapse of the Soviet Union, most of the Slavic countries have been going through the re-conservatization of society, which primarily means pushing women out of public space and denying women all the rights, hard won throughout recent history. This is most obvious in Poland, where women have lost the right to freely decide about their own bodies by abortion being illegal. In the name of a God whose image was created by men, women die also because they do not have the opportunity to freely decide on an abortion, but are victims of the crazy Catholic patriarchy.
"You can take your hands back
No one wants more boys dead
We're not your dolls": while this can surely be understood as a message to Putin, since he's clearly sending his boys to certain death, it can also be understood as a warning to men in general, especially the line "we are not your dolls". Women have been treated like a merchandise and war prize through most of human history. In every war, soldiers capture and rape women from the enemy's side as a collateral damage, merely to humiliate the enemy. Women are treated in every conflict like objects who don't have a say, thus the warning: we are not your dolls.
"Give me your hand don't be afraid
Come swim with your sisters
There's no place for hate in our sea": this text includes all women, not just Ukrainians. The choice of languages clearly shows unity of ALL Slavic women (and Russian women are NOT excluded, as we should not hate anyone).
And the final message: choose love OVER power. Something all those Putins in purple suits are not capable of.
To sum up, a proud Slavic woman wrote that. :)
Excellent summary with sharp insights. I’m in the US, and we had access to Eurovision in full this year. My first exposure. My own criteria (made up, of course) was to see fresh and authentic cultural expression, but so much was disappointingly Americanized and homogenous forgettable dance club fluff. Here’s an Ariana Grande clone, there’s a Gaga soundalike. Czechia/Vesna seized me, as if Trio Bulgarka’s descendants were singing. They owned that beat and the song’s a banger, but their acoustic version confirms the power of this song.
This was my personal winner this year, thank you so much for the detailed analysis! Such important meanings, such mesmerizing harmonies, such a powerful song.
@@anonymouse8124 You are most welcome. I have to say though, this is just my 2 cents on the matter, as the girls themselves said that they are open to any interpretation of the song. Someone in the comments also noticed something I didn't: the "Russian" guy finally lowers his stick to dance with the girl he previously choked. My interpretation stems mostly from the fact that Vesna advocates themselves as a femminist group, and they seek inspiration in expressive feminine Slavic mythology - check their other work.
@@anonymouse8124 they are my personal best this year as well, and to me, my favorite Czech entry of all times. The quality of the song, video, text and performance is just downright EXTRAORDINARY.
Not ESC official video but Vesna official video clip have substitles. For better understanding of the meaning of the song.
Not my usual style of music I listen to but I love it. I love the different languages. I love the message. Again, like with your Voyager/Australia video, you pick out the bits that I really love about the track too.
the song has a great impact they need to pull it off live too, if they can it will be spectacular.
Hope they win 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
my sisters CZechia and Ukraine
👍🇺🇦
That's one of the best I heard from the contest, for me. And the official video performance is way better then the live one, but the live one was good, too
🇨🇿🇨🇿🇨🇿 Winner 2023
u should see they live performances at prepartys, fans are worried that they might be shock non q bcs of vocals and harmonies which wasnt great.
They sing very well…
Czechia!! Not Chechnya 😅. Make it easier on everyone one and just say Czech Republic.
They have a hell of work to do on live vocals and staging. It is slipping down the rankings because live they are not great right now and the performance loses the meaning behind the song (essentially solidarity with Ukraine).
Also, my Czech friends don’t really like it that much…
Haha yeh I realised after I said it. This video hasn’t got many views yet so I’m waiting to be slammed further for it 😆
I haven’t seen the live yet but I have also heard some not great things! Let’s see what happens
@@TheMuserResolute I saw it Saturday night, and look, they weren't the worst - they didn't lip sync obviously like some others *cough* Brunette + Blanka! But they were uncoordinated, didn't come across super well, though the crowd loved the song. And they mucked up the final chorus that you love. So yea, a lot of work to do for them so really hope they can make it work, otherwise they risk not qualifying
@@ESC_ChrisM argh not the final chorus!!! That’s going to make or break the performance!!!!
Did Blanca and Brunette really lip sync???
@@TheMuserResolute It looked like it to me, Blanka was too in tune and watching back it looked like bad lip syncing - but the crowd loved the song so didn't really matter, and at the start Brunette had tech issues where they started the backing track with lyrics before she even got a mic, so yea, then she was a bit diva-ish about it. But they all had some form of tech problems and La Zarra handled it amazingly. Took out her earpiece and got us to sing with her even though she was off key, but Brunette was not happy. Then only really 5 female artists managed to sing without going off key - Lithuania, Spain, Estonia, Sweden and Georgia (but Georgia too I think had backing track lyrics).
Out of the male vocalists, Switzerland was miles ahead. That voice! Gustaph (Belgium) was wonderful (and he had to follow Blanca Paloma), and Voyager really knocked it out of the park. Kaarija was off, Alessandra was off (but nobody cared - they loved them). Austria were on key but got a bit lost from time to time (they didn't expect the love they got from the crowd - it was something special).
Ohh wow!! Thanks for this. I love Voyager (no bias here 😆 I really disliked our last year’s song). I’m seeing them live here in Sydney in July! I’m excited to see how all these brush up on the night!
Of the "Russian critique" songs of this years Eurovision, I like this one the best. I would count the songs from Switzerland, Croatia and Ukraine in this category. My favorite of all time however have to be Ukraine 2007, Lasha Tumbai aka Russia Goodbye.
Can you compare this composition with Stefania from Ukraine from lattest year I think the style of music its similar.
It sounds similar to you because it is based in traditional Slavic folklore music. And while there are variations from one slavic country to another from East to West to Central to South slavs - some aspects of our traditional music, sound, vocals are universal. It's most clearly heard in the chorus of the song.
Chorus in Ukrainian language 🇺🇦
Сестро красива!
Oh my god.. not Chechnya again, i hate our politicians for renaming Czech republic for Czechia in official terms, this confuses people even more than before 😢😂 Czechia is in the middle of Europe, next to Germany and Austria... Chechnya is part of the Russian federation!!
Oops 😬 😅
That’s kind of you to blame the politicians, but let’s face it, I’ve displayed my incompetence in the first 5 seconds of this video for everyone to see 😆 quite luckily it may have been the only time I used this term and resorted back to using Czech Republic
If they didn’t qualify, we could have put this to bed and no one would have watched my video. Now just waiting for all the Czech Eurovision fans to see this by Sunday 🤦♂️
Haha babe not Chechnya 😭
Mistakes have been made.. 😆
Since when are we calling the Czech Republic, Czechia? I’m so confused
Czechia is a shorter version of the offical name Czech Republic same as France for example (French Republic) and others. It wasnt really used before but now the goverment wants it to be used more and more. It is a more commercial-sounding name that the international community should find easier to remember. The only problem is that some people prounce it wrong (like this guy) sometimes or some people dont even realise that Czechia and Czech Republic r the same countries. Chechnya and Czechia r not the same.
@@fuckyg unfortunately english doesnt have ''ch'' and speakers cant pronouce it the way we do and sadly that is how it is pronouced in Czechia
@@jabananits not that hard to pronouce, read it as a K and you good
@@fuckyg its ok Im Czech 😅
@@jabanan tak to gratuluju 🤭
monitors are propaganda